A number of varieties of clothing have connector structures which must provide substantial holding ability. In general, where a fastener is used, the underlying structure is such that it must support a fastener and also the lateral forces necessary for clothing support. The support of the fastener is the more critical factor, with the attachment of the fastener to an underlying structure requiring a significant invasion of the underlying fastener, such as by stitching, forming a significant physical disruption to the underlying fastener. These lateral disruptions produce a “roughness” factor to the wearer, particularly where the structures have significant force bearing capability.
Invasions of steep stitching into material of sufficient thickness to accept the stitches forms something akin to a sand paper pad. The covering of both the material and stitches is required to effectively insulate the wearer from roughness. One method which has developed is the attachment to the material of a softer material which can be folded over the rough areas. The problems of this approach include the addition of the soft layer to an already thickened set of layers necessary to support the force of the connector and transmit it effectively to the underlying attachment material.
Where stitching of fabric is used to both hold the connector and to support a covering layer, a minimum thickness, and usually a bulky thickness is established. Bulkiness of the support material which supports the connectors or fasteners adds to the roughness by providing an expanded member which is naturally pressed even more tightly against to the body to thus cause even more unwanted abrasion.
In addition, most sewn flaps are subject to the same sewing rigors as the layers of material they are trying to protect. The sewn flap must have thread which is strong enough to pierce the soft layer and all of the strengthened layers beneath it. In short, the sewing of the softened flap onto a series of multiple layers may add as many roughness problems as it tries to help eliminate.
The standard use of a multi-layered support structure can require a significant amount of sewing, bolting, stapling and not including the portion of the structure which attaches to another structure. The ability to reduce the main attachable support structure while at the same time providing a soft insulative material has presented an insurmountable problem. Part of the obstacle in this problem is the cost of manufacture. The connecting portions of a garment are of higher cost than the main expanses of material, require more labor to construct, and are the focal point of quality control as a failure is more likely occur at an attachment point. The multiple labor steps and multiple structure steps add multiply the potential for quality failure.
One such connector and support structure is the bra main strap connector. The horizontally extending bra main strap connector typically bears the most continuous force in the bra assembly of straps. A male connector having a pair of spaced apart male hooks are directed toward the user's body and against a female connector. The female connector carries a plurality of corresponding eyelets to enable the hooks of the male connector to engage at differing positions along the length of the female connector.
The female connector thus has a plurality of eyelets, each of which has to be stabilized and oriented with respect to the female connector, and which also creates a dual plurality of invasive connection members as stitches to protrude out of the back side of the female connector and against the skin of the user. As before, a covering flap requires further stitching to connect such covering flap to the connector and may actually increase the roughness which is sought to be lessened. Thus, both a covering flap attached to the main support and the attachment of the eyelets to the main support can make the roughness problem worse.
Further, in the case where stitching is used as a general assembly and connection strategy, other connection strategies for the female support are sometimes precluded. In most cases, a softness layer may be precluded from attachment to a non-sewable eyelet support, either because the method of attachment of the softening layer creates a rougher projection (such as gluing or stapling), or where stitching might not be able to penetrate the main support.
The garment business is extremely competitive, and a savings of fractions of a penny can translate into either being competitive or non-competitive. Making the female connector softer usually involves added layers, attachment, labor, and the like. Where a manufacturer must justify each minute fractional addition to the garment, a decision may have to be made to use a connector which is not roughness insulated if its cost is too high, or even if it is not sufficiently competitively low.
As a result of all of the above factors, there exists no roughness mitigative assembly which can offer (1) a wider freedom of choice in support structure for the eyelets, (2) a minimization of risk of adding to the roughness if it is not installed properly, and (3) a greater freedom to control the cost of the female eyelet connector while providing elimination of roughness.